Martha Stewart's Empire Sold for $353 Million

Update June 23: MLSO and Sequential Brands reached a deal for $353 million. In a statement Monday, Stewart called the deal with Sequential a "transformational merger." Stewart will remain as chief creative officer and will be nominated for the board, and she'll be a "significant" stockholder.

June 19: Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is in talks to sell itself to Sequential Brands, a company that buys brands and licenses them to manufacturers and retailers. A deal has not yet been reached.

Stewart, who is chairman and Chief Creative Officer, built the publishing and housewares conglomerate, which was worth $2 billion on the day it went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 1999. As of yesterday, it was worth $370 million.

In October, MSLO turned over the printing, advertising, and circulation operations of its magazines to Meredith Corporation, the company that owns titles including EatingWell and Family Circle.